There is a sense from a local union official work on a new Thunder Bay jail could start next year.
Bill Hayes notes once the design plans are finished, which he believes will be by the end of August, the bidding process begins for who builds it at the current correctional facility site on Highway 61.
“Still have to go out for bidding, so that will take about another six months or so. Maybe hopefully next spring we’ll have someone working on the project,” says Hayes.
The plans are about 90% finished. As for the current correctional facility, he figures there are some ideas for its future, “It would continue to exist until the new centre is built, and then I imagine they’ll tear it down or repurpose it.”
He’s also glad Ontario’s Ombudsman, Paul Dube, was shocked at the conditions of the MacDougall Street facility during a tour, and says it could become a heritage site. Hayes appreciates a recent report outlining how bad it is.
“About time they put that out in the media. They toured back in February, I think of this year, and they are bang on, the conditions are deplorable. He should feel shaken when he left,” says Hayes.
